Video Of Jahlil Okafor Dropping His Sixers Jersey A Good Lesson In Internet Outrage

On Thursday, Duke’s Jahlil Okafor was selected third overall in the NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. On Saturday, he was introduced to his new city by the team at a press conference. And by Sunday, the Internet had already sent itself into a tizzy over a bite-sized clip that appeared to show Okafor disrespectfully dropping his jersey to the Sixers jersey to the floor like it was on fire.

People started speculating about what it meant. Was it a knowing drop, one meant to send a message to Sixers GM Sam Hinkie? Was it a sign he was upset he wasn’t picked second by the Los Angeles Lakers, or that he didn’t drop to the Knicks at four? Was it a political act? Could this tell us anything about the 2016 presidential election?

People are really reading into this Jahlil Okafor jersey-drop thing, huh?

When I saw the video on Sunday, I laughed, but I also wondered what it ~meant~! How could you not? It's not every day a player of Okafor's stature disrespects his new team like that. And besides, it was a near-perfect Internet moment: short, funny, clear and, like The Dress, divisive. Were you someone who believed The Drop revealed something, or someone who didn’t?

The only problem? Okafor didn’t disrespectfully drop his jersey to the floor. At worst, he disrespectfully dropped it to the table. We know this because some self-starter edited out the noise surrounding the scene and created a clear view of Okafor placing his jersey on the table, albeit a bit quicker and rougher than Philadelphia’s other draft picks. Reminder: NBA centers are really, really tall.